Tag: music

Sugoi desu ne!

It is no doubt true that 95 percent of the world’s weirdness comes from Japan. But sometimes, the result is glorious.


Metal Resistance comes out on April 1, 2016.

Can confirm

“If you say “Vox Day” three times, he might appear in a malignant cloud of brimstone and a thundering bassline of techno.”

All right, so it’s more House than Techno, but this was always my favorite mix of “Silicon Jesus”. Unless you’ve got the CD single or came across it in a club, it’s unlikely you’ve heard it before. Called “House of Jesus”, Paul did it, although he threw in the little keyboard riff that Dan borrowed from 2Unlimited.

The one thing marring it was the bizarre two-second”XXHHHRRRHH-XXXHHRRR-RRRHH” that somehow got added in the mastering process at 4:35. I still have no idea how that happened, but Wax Trax! was in too much of a rush to get the CD out to fix it. And granted, a two-second flaw deep into the 5th remix of their new band’s first single just wasn’t a major priority to them. The Duality mix was the studio mix that they were pushing on vinyl. Frankly, I thought it was too disjointed and that most of our mixes were better.

Anyhow, one thing I always thought we did very well was to do entirely different remixes, to the point that some of our fans genuinely thought that the “Welcome to My Mind” CD single was a new album.

Memento mori

For me, the best thing about all these Baby Boomer icons beginning to die off is the way that the godless narcissists who made a quasi-religion of them are in total despair about what it says about something they have denied for decades, namely, their own mortality. I don’t think Ed Driscoll is GenX, but he sounds as if he is in this take on the Eagles’ breakup:

So let me get this straight: throughout the documentary, a running leitmotif is that the band was desperate
to add some decent rock under their soaring harmony vocals. The band
fires British superstar engineer-producer Glyn Johns (whose previous
resume included the Stones, the Who, the Beatles, and Led Zeppelin’s
first album) because he emphasized their harmonies and country sound. In
response, they bring in Joe Walsh to rock out. And finally, when their
other guitarist does something that’s actually rock and roll and utters a punk rock-style sneer to corrupt power, the entire band implodes?

Perfect.

But I’m glad for the many fans of the Eagles that they got one last chance to see the band on tour last year. I’m told it was an excellent concert; while I wasn’t a fan myself, I had a lot of respect for them as songwriters.

Still, the Baby Boomers are dying, and soon we will have a chance to remake the civilized world they spent fifty years doing their damndest to destroy. Let’s learn from their mistakes, shall we?

We have certainly learned that nothing good ever comes of believing yourself to be eternally young and cool. And wisdom and experience should always be respected, not dismissed out of hand.

I love it when a song comes together

The one thing I miss most about Psykosonik is the process of creating a song from scratch with the guys. Whether it turns out the way you first conceived it in your head or not, the process is always an interesting experience.

After Gene and I mixed and mastered the record, I listened back and knew we had something. I took a promo copy up to the Bronx and played it for my friends. But when the 45 ended, there was complete silence. Everyone looked at me, and someone said, “Dion, what did you do to it?” They were remembering that night at Ellen’s party and the spontaneity of what we had done.

I never thought I had screwed up the song, but I knew what they meant. I had had those feelings before—a record not quite capturing what I had intended. But with “Runaround Sue,” I knew I had nailed it, even though that didn’t come across for my Bronx friends.

After “Runaround Sue” came out in September ’61 and hit No. 1, I went to the old neighborhood for a party. My friends said, “You know, we couldn’t really hear how good the record was at first, but it sounds good now.” Ellen gave me a hug and said, “Wow, what a birthday gift to watch that song come together.” By then, the song’s attitude had grabbed everyone’s spirit. But you know, as great as that song sounds on the record, it was even better at Ellen’s party. Sad but true.

I get a little of the same buzz from designing games and software, but because the process is so much longer, it’s nowhere nearly as emotionally satisfying. With the music, you can hear it decades later and still recapture a little bit of what it felt like at the time it was all coming together. It’s really less about the destination than the journey.

Fighter Verse 5

Fighter Verses Songs: Set 5 (English Standard Version) is comprised of word-for-word Bible passages (English Standard Version) set to music. These passages are specifically selected to help believers fight the fight of faith. The Fighter VersesTM Songs also coordinate with the five-year Fighter VersesTM Bible memory program from Children Desiring God.

This CD includes 33 songs (over an hour of music) from important and beloved Bible passages from 19 books of the Bible. The songs were creatively written and recorded to make Scripture memorization easy and fun.

Musical styles include folk, a cappella, jazz, blue grass, pop, gospel and family songs. Tunes are easy to learn, fun for kids and enjoyable to listen to on repeat.

The songs include passages from Romans 8 (Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?), Psalm 84 (A day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere), Numbers 23 (God is not man that he should lie), John 8 (If you abide in my word), and all of Psalm 34. Your children will memorize scripture without even trying-and so will you! Companion CDs for Sets 1, 3 and 4 are also available, as is the Extended Set 5 CD (the Sermon on the Mount).

The irresistible force

I could not have been more wrong when I mistakenly thought Nippon Manju was the peak of modern musical achievement. But I have to say that the combination of J-Pop with metal is the most musically interesting thing I’ve heard since the first time I heard techno. Throw in the Japanese knack for inimitable style and theatrics, and the total effect is amazing. I’m totally convinced that Babymetal is going to be one of the biggest bands in the world.

Now, some of you are aware that I studied in Japan, I used to speak it pretty well, and although I haven’t used it at all in 25 years, I can still understand a fair amount of it. So when I heard “Papa daisuki”, I thought, what the hell, why are they saying “I love you Daddy?”

So I listened a little closer, then burst out laughing before looking up the translated lyrics. Because in addition to the music being brilliant, the words are enough to give the feminists of the West a complete stroke. The grasseater males of Japan may be gaming themselves into nonexistence, but clearly not everyone in Japan has forgotten what is at the heart of female power.

And no one knows it better, or wields it more effectively, than a little girl with a loving father. Thus spake the man who doesn’t like cats and somehow ended up with three.

Tactic 1
I flatter more than usual.
I give Daddy a shoulder massage
I love you, Daddy.


Tactic 2
Thank you for your hard work. You are my god.
Of course my favorite type is….
 I love you, Daddy.


Let’s go! Let’s go!
The Great Beg-Daddy-for-it Strategy.
Make a cute pouty face and keep on begging.
The strongest! Ooh! The greatest!  Ooh!
Daddy’s going to fall for my angel’s smile.
Let’s go! Let’s go!
The Great Beg-Daddy-for-it Strategy.
I will get it in secret from Mom.
The strongest! Ooh! The greatest!  Ooh!
I beg. I beg.
The Great Beg-Daddy-for-it Strategy!


Because I am a girl
I love sparkling things.
I love cute things.
I love delicious things.

Anyhow, if you’re not convinced that they rock in a uniquely Japanese fashion, check out Megitsune. For some reason, only the Americans, the English, the Nordics, and occasionally the Germans have historically been able to do metal, but apparently the Japanese have figured it out since I was there in 1988. No doubt those who think metal is primarily about the trappings and the posturing will hate Babymetal, but those who like it for the music will appreciate the musicianship, the energy, and the spectacle, if nothing else.

Mailvox: The Singularity

One of the readers here, who also happens to have the good taste to be a John C. Wright fan, sends word of his band’s new EP, “The Singularity”. Good voice and some interesting guitar work.

Mood programming

Best 5 fire-it-up songs:

  1. Indestructible, Disturbed
  2. Shoot to Thrill, AC/DC
  3. Jesus Built My Hot Rod, Ministry
  4. New World Order, Ministry
  5. Galvanize, Chemical Brothers

Best 5 philosophy songs

  1. Orpheus, David Sylvian
  2. Overburdened, Disturbed
  3. Everyday is Halloween, Ministry
  4. Down with the Sickness, Disturbed
  5. September, David Sylvian

Best 5 get-off-the-canvas songs

  1. In the Meantime, Spacehog 
  2. Tubthumping, Chumbawumba
  3. Glory to Glory, Fred Hammond
  4. Keep on Movin, Five
  5. A Long Way to the Top, AC/DC

Best 5 romance songs

  1. Sadeness, Enigma
  2. A Girl Doesn’t Get Killed By Her Make-Believe Lover, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult
  3. Lullaby, The Cure
  4. Earth (Gaia), The Orb
  5. More Human Than Human, White Zombie

The first album you ever bought

Just got the discount codes out, which I did while cranking the first album I ever bought, AC|DC Back in Black. Man, there is still nothing like that first guitar kicking in on the title track.

I actually think Shoot to Thrill is my favorite track on the album, but it’s hard to decide whether Back in Black or Hells Bells gets off to a better start. And You Shook Me All Night Long is a respectable third in that regard. Which reminds me of  one of the things I love about Rock Sugar’s mix of Like a Prayer and Shook Me All Night Long, how they slip in the riff from Hells Bells into it towards the end.

Anyhow, the code are good for a week, so don’t leave redeeming to the last minute. By the way, in case anyone is interested, the preferences were as follows:

34.5 percent JANISSARIES
27.6 percent SCI PHI JOURNAL #1
19.5 percent QUANTUM MORTIS A Man Disrupted
12.6 percent THE EMPEROR’S CORPS
5.6 percent FIRST ON THE MOON

I was also annoying Markku by sending him the line after line from Bloodhound Gang’s Screwing You on the Beach at Night, which is the greatest Gamma-mocking song ever recorded. I think I listened to it 10 times in a row and laughed every single time. In case you can’t tell, we haven’t been turning in before 4 AM in about a week.

I know my haikus are freaking intense
And even the words I made up to sound French
Don’t express my feelings for your toilet parts

That is some QUALITY lyric writing.